A Very Merry Follower Giveaway

Merry Christmas to all of my followers - new and old! I have had an amazing two days with my family. This is the first time in 5 years that my Mom's side of the family was able to get together. We hosted at our house and even though it was a little stressful, it was all worth it. The food was delicious and the time with family was amazing. A good time was had by all! 

This morning was so much fun. Our daughter is 2 and she really seemed to understand Christmas this year. She was excited that Santa came to visit and she couldn't wait to get into her presents. We decided to do something that I had found on Pinterest. 

You give 4 main gifts. Something you want. Something you need. Something you wear. Something you read. I often feel that Christmas is too commercialized and this brings us back down to Earth! :) Of course, she still receives gifts from Santa and from other family members, but this is going to be a new tradition for us. Here are some before and after pictures.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning

We also had cupcakes with bright, red frosting for breakfast! Only on Christmas! :) 

The best gift of all - the box that her kitchen set came in! :) 

Now... onto the part you have been waiting for... I'm holding a giveaway for 3 prizes. The first prize is a $10 gift certificate to Teachers Pay Teachers. The other 2 prizes are for $15 to spend in my TpT store. You can enter the raffle-copter below to win! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Why Do Long Weekends Seem So Short?

I always tell myself that when I have a day off of school I am going to relax and do nothing. Why doesn't this happen? 

Oh that's right... I'm a wife, mother and teacher. What was I thinking? We don't get days off! 

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house (on Thanksgiving and again today) and even though I loved every moment, I am exhausted! My mom has been here since Wednesday afternoon and I couldn't have survived without her. My little girl just turned two and it was great to have my mom here to keep her entertained! Here's a picture of my baby girl on her birthday. She had an Elmo cake, but we gave her a cupcake for her to blow out the candles. I've always had a thing with people blowing on food that we are going to eat! ;)

On Friday my Mom and I went shopping. My baby girl got to experience her first Black Friday! We didn't go out until after 10am because we thought the lines would be shorter. We were wrong. The checkout line at Kohl's wrapped more than half-way around the store. It took about 45 minutes to wait to check out, but it was worth it. The combined total for our purchases was $212, but we saved $428. I have most of my shopping done and only a few things left to order online. Even though it was a long wait in line, the savings were more than worth it and the fact that I now have $60 Kohl's Cash to use makes it even better. Did you score any great Black Friday deals? 

I've also been working on a little surprise. You'll need to keep an eye on my Facebook page to see what it is! :) If you aren't a fan, you might want to "like" my page by the end of the week. Click on the image below to check it out. 

I am also participating in the BIG Cyber Monday (& Tuesday!) sale at TpT. My entire store will be 20% off and if you use the code "CYBER" TpT will add an extra 10% off to your order. 

I have already started to fill up my cart. Have you? 

I think it is time to actually relax for a bit. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm going to go and add more items to my shopping cart! 

Happy World Teacher Day

Today, October 5th, is World Teacher Day. 

To celebrate this special day my entire store is on sale. 

Have a fabulous day!

Click on the apple above to visit my store. 

The sale will be active Saturday and Sunday. :) 

Rockin' in Our School Shoes

Wait a minute... what's this? A blog post? I know, it has been a long time! I should be in bed, but I just HAD to share a few pictures of a book that we made in class.

My students absolutely adore Pete the Cat. My kinders all want to read the Pete the Cat books when we have quiet reading time.

This summer I saw the coolest idea on Pinterest where a teacher took pictures of the kids shoes on the first day of school and made a school shoe book for their classroom library. I really wanted to do this, so I took pictures on the second day of school and then I assembled them into this adorable book!

This is what the inside looks like. Each page has a 4x6 laminated picture of the child's shoes taped onto the center of the page. I used clear packing tape and only taped along the top edge. 

The children look at the shoes and guess who they belong to. 

Then they can lift up the flap and see a picture of the person wearing their shoes. I printed the photos of the students to be just under 4 inches tall. It amazed me that some of the students knew right away who every pair of shoes belonged to. 

I did my best to take pictures of the book, but the reflection from the lights and flash were terrible. Hopefully you can see the basics of what the book is about. 

So now that I have told you all about the book, I want to share part of it with you. I'm offering a freebie of the cover and inside pages to be turned into a book for your classroom! 

Click here to download the files to make your own. 

If you make a book, I'd love to see it! 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

It's finally here... the big classroom reveal!

Is it really possible that it has been 3 weeks since my last post? Wow, you would think that it was back to school or something?! 

I decided that I should probably upload the pictures that I took of my classroom. I love to see everyone else's classrooms so I thought I would share mine too! The pictures were taken the day before school started. Everything was ready to go and it is probably the cleanest my room will be all year! :) 

This picture is taken from my guided reading table. I love that I can see the whole classroom from my table which makes classroom management much easier! :) I like to have specific areas in my classroom for learning centers, but I also want the room to feel open. I think I've managed to accomplish both! 

This picture is looking back towards my table. I wish I would have had the windows open, the pictures probably would have turned out better! 

Here is our large group area. We gather here many times throughout the day. And of course, my SmartBoard. I don't know what I would do without it.

Not the greatest photo, but this is part of the library. I covered the cabinet on the left with black contact paper. I'm going to add some signs and use it to store leveled readers for my students to use when they are at the library center. I think I will try to cover the big book stand on the right as well since the dry erase board is all gouged up and nasty from something a previous teacher put on it. Not sure what it was, but it does NOT come off! 

This is the back of the classroom. The student computers, sink and science center are housed back here.  Now that I look at the photo I realize that i absolutely must cover the nasty orange cupboards with my black contact paper! They definitely do not match my theme! :) 

One of my favorite parts of my classroom. I have 3 closets that have always been used for my word wall. A bunch of us decided to cover them this summer so that we didn't have to look at the dingy closet doors anymore. It really made a difference. I will show pictures of the makeover another day. The classroom job chart and clip chart are also on the closet doors. 

Here is the writing center that is located right by the word wall. 

 

This is looking towards the door. The large cart on the left has hooks on the other side for my students to hang up their coats and backpacks. There aren't enough hooks on the wall behind the cart so unfortunately this is the only way to have a space for everyone. It is the only spot that I can't see from my table, but I'm never sitting down while the students are back there anyway. :)

Here are the computers and the overhead station. 

The overhead is under the table and we wheel it out when we use it for stations. 

You can also see my "Art Cart" behind the green pocket chart. The students can wheel this over to the table and use it during free choice time. It is hiding back there until we learn how to use it correctly! 

Well, that was a little glimpse into my classroom. 

I hope you enjoyed looking around. Come back again soon! 

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

... the TPT Back to School Sale is here! 

In case you haven't heard, TPT is having their annual sale THIS Sunday and Monday. I'm already moving items from my wish list into my cart! I absolutely love picking out new items for my classroom and when they are on sale I love it even more! 

I'm linking up with Collaboration Cuties for their linky party. You can check out all the other blogs by clicking the picture below!

You are supposed to write about your top 2 wish-listed items and 1 item from your own wish list. I found that to be hard to do because there are so many great things that I want. Soooo I will be sharing a few more of my favorites items in my cart! :) 

The #1 wish listed item from my store is one of my newest products! It is called "Magnifying Search and Find Games" and is great for math and literacy stations. You can check it out by clicking on the picture below.

My second most wish listed items were actually a tie. Polka dots must be all the rage because both items are polka dot themed! Click below to check them out!

Now onto what is in MY cart! Click on the images for more information! :)

 Positive Student Recognition Necklaces by Mel D.

The MEGA alphabet bundles from Ashley Hughes

        

ABC Centers for the Frugal Teacher by Growing Kinders

Flip Books Bundle by The Printable Princess

We Are Family! by Sara Edgar at Polka Dot Kinders

 Well, it's time for me to get something done around the house! It's my birthday today so I'm going to do my annual back to school clothes shopping too. Hooray for sweet discounts at Kohl's! :) 

I hope you have a wonderful day and happy TPT shopping! I'd love to hear what is on your wishlist! 

Teachers Notebook Sale!

Teachers Notebook is having a sale! It starts today and runs through August 18th! There are so many exciting things involved in this sale! Click on the pictures below to see what all the commotion is about! :)

- All of my items are on sale

- I'm hosting a giveaway on the Teachers Notebook website

- They have product bundles that are 80% off

- There are tons of FREE resources available for all grade levels 

I am so pumped for this sale! I don't sell a lot of things on Teachers Notebook since I mainly use TPT, but those bundles... ohmygoodness... 80% off... I'm on my way to go shopping! :) 

Look What the Postman Brought Me!

It had completely slipped my mind that I had signed up for a Back to School Blogger exchange until I went to the mailbox today! Deirdre from A Burst of First and I were randomly chosen to send each other some goodies for the back to school season. I sent her package on Saturday and then forgot all about the exchange. I think I have too many things on my mind! 

Anyway... when I got home this is what I found in my mailbox... 

And inside were lots of fun treats.

A chevron notebook - in black and white - which I adore.

Sharpies - my absolute favorite! 

A 3-pack of scissors and a pack of bright colored rubber bands, binder clips, push pins and paper clips. 

I can't wait to use all of my new supplies! 

Thank you so much Deirdre - it was fun doing the exchange with you! 

Check out Deirdre's blog here to see what exciting things she has been up to lately.